Holiday Hours

MMmmhhmmm

I know what my customers like...

This is how we do it:TOTE BAGS EDITION

A sneak peek into how our new totes are made!

 The screen printing cavern in the basement of our favourite neighbours, Smash

 Our very own screen!

 Monsieur Jon Todd who does all the work ( I am supposed to help but that never works out)*

Heat setting so they don't just get erased in the rain! Quality!!

Tah-dah!

* I provide the tunes and once I brought a six pack

Also, here you go:

Hobb bow ties

Who DOESN'T need a bow tie for a party this weekend?  Hobb bow ties $60

Perfect Bulb Vase

ps- it's only $16 and perfect

rc boisjoli

 mustard bear bottle $25

ceramic acorn ornaments $25

IMM living + lets chat

Hidden Message Cups $39/set

Lucky Strike Cookie Jar (my favourite thing ever) $74

Tea cup set $87, s+p (and sugar) set $35

There is so much more new BEAUTIFUL merchandise in the shop right now, but instead of blogging about it, I need to get it out on the floor like a good shop owner...

On a side note, how is everyone doing in the holiday survival spectrum? How many parties have you been invited to this weekend? Things a getting a bit 'cray' (as jay-z and kanye would say) up in the Junction on the party front, and we are hosting our annual Fancy Party this weekend at home, so when you see me Sunday just smile and act like we don't both know that I am wearing last night's make-up ok? If you are in the same boat as me, which I'm sure many of you will be, give me a signal for solidarity! XOXO R&E

Duello!

Duello Jewellery Holder by IMM Living $49, and all of the lovely jewellery on it is here too! I will mention that pin right in the centre, it's a tiny deer with a crab claw for a head...

We are open 'till 8 tonight!

This Friday night, Russet & Empire and our neighbours in the Junction  Mrs Huizenga  will be open until 8 for all of your holiday shopping needs.  We also just got a record player, so we will be spinning tunes and probably having a few sneaky cocktails to add to the festive atmosphere.  Also, if you can tell us where to get new vinyl in the hood that would be great too!

Faberge Hybrid Containers

If you want to get your girlfriend something for Christmas that says 'I think you appreciate beautiful things and you have a discerning eye for Canadian design', may I suggest these my good sir;

 Faberge Egg x Caribou Antlers $34

Faberge Egg x Horse Hooves $34

Dollars to donuts- if you actually fill these with some jewellery, you will 100% get some hot holiday action. You're welcome. XO

Meet our boyfriends

All the drilling and cursing you hear coming from the back of the shop, it's these guys. Sorry for the iPhone photo...

NOEL

After what was supposed to be a two hour project, turned into a week-long affair, our noel sign is installed and ready to draw crowds! 

Perfect.

Set of perfect vintage peach party crackers $25. I can't even imagine what the prizes are!

Animal Nodders

 These nodding animals are made in the same factory in Germany that has been producing them for the past 100 years. They are small and dainty (except the dachshund but that's not his fault) unlike their dufus contemporaries, and all accents are painted by hand. The dachshund makes up for his stumpy legs with not only a nodding head but nodding tail as well.

 lamb attack!

German Nodders $14

Santa in the Junction

This Saturday all sorts of holiday festivities are happening in the Junction; Santa, chestnuts, kids dancing the nutcracker in shop windows, the whole nine. So come and stop by Russet and Empire and say hi, (we usually have free food on these kinds of occasions hint hint). We've tried to hold out on the whole 'as soon as Halloween is over Christmas in your face' thing for as long as we can, but since Santa will be in the hood it's only respectful to make an effort. Plus the Santa Claus parade was LAST weekend. So there.

For the love of Serge

and please please watch THIS

Man Gifts

We bought a tonne of manly accessories for the man sale that can carry over into the holiday season (cocktail season), there is something much more special about vintage barware in quality and design. Plus champagne saucers and vintage erotic novels with great cover art, if you want a ring for Christmas I think you should keep this in mind. Stick with me girls, I've got you covered.

 hubba hubba- $5

 champagne saucers $33/set of 4, beautiful vintage lighters $22, champagne bucket $37, alligator ash tray, $19

 antler shed $30, smokey OPP tumblers $13/set, decanters, $35&$37, pressed glass bowl $25

modern cocktail pitcher and swizzle $45

Man Sale Reception

The sale continues through 'till the end of the this weekend, and then it's so long hunks that have everyday been in for the past week...

 All above photos credited to Phil Brennan

Good Morning

Happy Halloween

Kind of NSFW due to swears

MAN SALE

Starting this Thursday Russet and Empire will be hosting a MAN SALE  pop-up shop with Hobb Apparel and Design and Shoebox Vintage (the same ladies who did Summer Social). In true Russet and Empire form we will be hosting an opening reception on Thursday November the 3rd. We have all been planning this sale for a full year since men's vintage is so rare, we have been collecting and curating just the right items for our dream men.   See you all on Thursday xo

Party time!

The Show Off at the Junction reception was a great night for us here at Russet and Empire. It started off slow, so I went across the street to Mrs Huizenga for a cupcake, and I came back 5 minutes later and there were 50 people in the shop! It stayed like that until well after the closing time at 11. I have never had so much fun working for 12 hours straight in my life, but I have to admit that having a drink at Margret felt well deserved at the end of the night.

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B/Life_design

3:00pm

JNC

KEELE & DUNDAS

_WED OCT 19, 2011_DESIGN

Showing off The Junction

Local artists revamp Junction storefronts to promote the burgeoning community of design-focussed businesses in the area.

BY: MONIKA WARZECHA

Twenty artists have teamed up with 12 stores and galleries along Keele and Dundas West to spruce up storefronts and make passersby stop and stare. The window installations, which debuted Oct. 18 and will be on display until October 30, are part of Show Off @ The Junction.

Organized by Mason, a multi-disciplinary design firm, Show Off @ The Junction aims to do just that: show off the talent of Toronto artists, designers and stylists and the wares of neighbourhood shops. A street party is also planned for Friday (Oct. 21), with retailers keeping their doors open until 11 p.m.

Ashley Rumsey and Stanley Sun of Mason rent studio space part-time in The Junction and were inspired by the neighbourhood’s architecture: a number of the stores have lots of storefront space to work with.

“We fell in love with The Junction and we’ve seen more and more retailers come into the area that are very design-focussed. So this was a great way for us to show it off to Toronto and say, ‘This is an area that’s worth taking a look at,’” Rumsey says. “It’s also an opportunity for us to promote those local retailers and show off our colleagues and fellow designers too.”

One of the firms taking part in Show Off, 1point0 Interior Design Consultants, often sources materials from The Junction’s many furniture and salvage shops. The firm’s partners, Diane Paz and Warren Gyulay, rigged up Metropolis Living’s storefront display.

Gyulay says window dressing seems to be a dying art in the city and Paz agrees.

“It makes you stop and look, which a lot of people are too busy to do now,” she says, pointing out that storefront displays are more of a perk for pedestrians than the drivers zipping through the neighbourhood.

“It brings people out into the street and really maintains that human scale for a community.”

Russet & Empire (390 Keele)

Playing into the store’s Canadiana-inspired giftware, interior stylist Jenn Hannotte created a camping themed display. Since September, Hannotte has run Russet & Empire Interiors out of the shop.

Pandemonium (2862 Dundas St. W.)

Christine Kim and Lesley Look Hong created the paper-based display in the front of the book and music store.

Smash (2880 Dundas St. W.)

The showroom specializes in vintage materials, furnishings and fixtures. This ain’t IKEA, though designers Diana Watters, Bradley Marks, and Jennifer Nicevski seem to have taken liberties with the store’s catalogue.

Post and Beam Architectural Reclamation (2869 Dundas St. W.)

Julie Chapman, Jeff Palmeter and Joanna Ferraro constructed this chilly scene.

Metropolis Living (2989 Dundas St. W.)

A home décor style stocked with salvaged and repurposed pieces, Metropolis took into account Halloween’s approaching date. 1point0 Interior Design Consultants set up the store’s display, a post-apocalyptic assembly line for a human machine.

Eclectic Revival (3075 Dundas St. W.)

Studio1:1 designed the display for the antique lighting store.

Narwhal (2988 Dundas St. W.)

The gallery went all out with a design spearheaded by Theo Gallaro, with assistance from Kristin Weckworth and Noel Middleton. The display focused on the Bald Knobbers, a band of vigilantes that tried to bring law and order to Missouri after the Civil War.